Lawsuits
by Anna Parish
Summary: An abrupt change in environment can create strange reactions...OCAB


Lawsuits- by Rachel  
  
*Disclaimer: Anything you recognize isn't mine. Happy reading!  
  
Gordon Bombay was walked down the snowy sidewalks of New York City. The small breeze blowing through the trees was enough to make him shiver on his way "home". Home was with his cousin Mark Shiner, his mother's nephew, in Brooklyn. Mark was an aspiring lawyer fresh out of school and needed some help toping the opposing attorney. In return for advice, Mark offered Gordon a break from deskwork at the Goodwill Games headquarters, free housing and food, and the best tour of New York State.  
Passing by World Middle School, Gordon skimmed the lighted sign congratulating their dance team.  
  
"CONGRATS TO OUR GOLD DANCE TEAM ON ANOTHER VICTORY! LEADING THE WAY: JOHNSON, LEWIS, CONWAY, RANDALL, SMITH, KUSTER! WAY TO GO LADY CORRS!"  
  
Doing a double take, Gordon stared at the sign. "Conway?" Gordon thought back for a moment. Charlie had never mentioned a sister and neither did Casey.of course, he never asked. Nah, he thought, I'll bet anything that there's tons of Conways.don't be stupid. Shaking his head, Gordon glanced at his watch. 10:19. Mark'll want to work on his case by now. Mark had a habit of leaving everything until the last minute.even notes were left off note cards until five minutes before the end of the recess. A sudden burst of sub-zero wind made Gordon move his head to the right to prevent frostbite on his ear.  
A boy's voice, carried in the wind, made Gordon turn his face back into the wind.  
"Jackson takes the puck to the blue line, fakes a shot and passes to Conway. Whylie hot on her trail, Conway tries to wrap it around and it's blocked by Forlines! Fifth one missed tonight by Conway, it's got to be a new record." Three boys and a girl were playing two-on-two hockey on a small pond. All of them were laughing and yelling while skating in circles.  
"Hey, Kenny! Do you have a watch?" Haylie Conway yelled to Whylie.  
  
"Uh, yeah." He flung his pad off his left wrist. "It's about 10:25. Why?"  
Right away, Haylie sprinted across the pond towards the lone bench. "My father could be home. I'll see you guys tomorrow!" She switched her borrowed hockey skates for roller blades, grabbed her school bag, and took off on the park's pathway. ---  
Gordon watched the scene play out. The girl's panicked face and Kenny's confused glance made him wonder. He was so involved, the girl was skating straight forward, seemingly looking through Gordon. Gordon was standing in the middle of the path, staring blankly at the pond, not noticing the approaching danger. Why was she so scared? Oh, yeah. Her father could be home. It could just be she's out past her curfew. Yeah, that's it. It's just her curfew, Gordon told himself. Light footsteps crossed his shoe, causing him to look down. The squirrel dashed across the frozen pavement and up the bare oak tree to a small bunch of dead leaves.  
"Whoa, watch it!" The skating girl, wrenching his knee, pulled Gordon to the ground. Gordon let out a soft gasp of pain as he landed.  
Haylie got to her knees swiftly and started to refill her spilled backpack. "Oh, my goodness! I'm really sorry I didn't see you there. I have a habit of not looking where I'm going. Listen, I'm really sorry, and I understand if you drag this to court, but I really need to go!" She patted Gordon's arm apologetically and sped off.  
"Hey!" Gordon tried to stand, but winced at the pain in his knee. He yelled to her retreating back again. "Hey! You forgot your planner!" Hoping for a name, he opened the cheap plastic cover to the front page. Inside, an address was spelled out in neat cursive:  
  
Haylie Conway  
  
4223 Washington Ave, Appt. 23 Brooklyn, NYC, NY  
  
Gordon closed it, satisfied. He decided that Mark was going to take him on a little tour of Brooklyn tomorrow morning.  
  
Haylie was truly thankful for their newly oiled apartment door. She crossed the messy living room; which was riddled with some other female's clothing. "Ugh," she sneered in disgust. Her father had obviously gotten home about an hour before her. She peeked into the hallway, making sure her father wasn't waiting for her around the corner. Seeing it was empty, Haylie continued towards her bedroom. She had the door halfway open when a large beefy hand landed on her shoulder.  
Haylie's father's deep sleepy voice made her freeze. "Where've you been?" Growing up in New York, his accent was heavy.  
"Why do you care? Homework ran a bit," she lied.  
The hand on her shoulder tightened. "I'll tell you why." The large man turned her around, causing Haylie to drop her bag for the second time that night. "I don't want you to spill anything about the money I owe anyone, a lame excuse to the bulls about how I 'abuse' my kid, or a peep about the room, alright?" His voice was lowered to a harsh whisper now. "I've told you a million times you should be here, watching over my stuff." Haylie's blue eyes flinched as he whipped his pointer finger towards her face. "Understand?"  
Haylie didn't move. She never did. She never gave her father the privilege of seeing her willingly obeying him.  
"Get into your room." Her father gave Haylie a hard shove backwards, laughing as she tripped over her bag and fell."  
"Sam? Who is that?" A high-pitched voice called out from the other bedroom down the hall, tinted with worry.  
Sam headed down the hall towards his room. "Oh, nothing, sweetie. Now.where were we?"  
Haylie rolled her eyes in revulsion. She just hoped her father was gone before noon the next day. It was her turn to house the weekly afternoon video. She lifted herself onto the top of her loft bed. Sadly enough, she thought, this was the end to a typical day. 


End file.
